In Australia Palmetto Buffalo Grass has become a favourite with landscapers and landscape architects, often being used on large projects, probably because of its lower maintenance and reliability. The trade buys the grass over and over again based on feedback from previous clients. As far as Buffalo grass goes, there is far more Palmetto sold in the world than any other Buffalo. If you are looking for a lawn for your home and less work is appealing then read on.

Palmetto is a low maintenance Buffalo Grass, needing less mowing and edging, and does well in the drought, cold and humidity. Palmetto is well known to have the best winter colour, particularly under high incidents of frost.

Palmetto was bred in the USA and came to Australia in the late 90’s. In a 2 year trial in Western Sydney it had the best winter colour (see research) http://www.softleafbuffalograss.com.au/ ... viewed.php It also required less lawn mowing compared to the other Buffalo types in the trial. Another trial showed that after 5 months without mowing Palmetto reached 112 mm, while Sir Walter reached 163 cm, Couch reached 205 cm and Kikuyu made it to a massive height of 435 cm.

In the Horticulture Australia study (Hal), Palmetto grew to a height of 19.9 cm in unmown sward tests while Sir Walter, Kings Pride and Matilda had a sward height of around 35 cm and Sapphire about 30 cm. This means if people go on holidays or cannot mow their lawn for a while, Palmetto will still look good. In the SAWS drought study (Texas, USA) Palmetto was the third best variety behind Sapphire and Floratam after 30 days and 60 days without water. Palmetto has also survived in Western Sydney on a roadside with no irrigation for 10 years in a large RTA project.

It is moderately shade tolerant, but not quite as good as Sapphire according to the Hal study. However, in the shade it grows lower than the other good Buffalo types, so this will again mean less mowing. USA data shows Palmetto to have excellent shade tolerance compared to other Buffalo types, so it depends which data you believe. The Hal study found it to have significantly less clippings in the shade. I have had Palmetto growing at my place for years, and you really do notice its drought tolerance and its lower mowing requirements. It also requires far less edging than the faster growing types.

Growers may find the faster growing types quicker on the turf farm, but the end user certainly appreciates the lower maintenance of this variety. In Ozbreed research Palmetto required a lot less mowing than Sir Walter, and in Horticulture Australia research produced far less clippings than Sir Walter, Kings Pride, Sapphire and Matilda.

Finally, Palmetto has a unique dark emerald green colour. Many like this dark green colour, and prefer it to the blue tones that most other Buffalo types are characterised by.

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